Conrad's novella was serialised in 1899 in Blackwood's
Magazine but was not published in book form until its inclusion
in Youth, A Narrative, and Two Other Stories in 1902. For
some critics, it is the first indisputably modernist work written
in English. The book is divided into three chapters which follow a
journey up the river Congo by Charles Marlow to find a man called
Kurtz.

The narrative begins aboard a cruising yawl called The
Nellie. A first narrator introduces the scene, explaining that
he is sitting aboard the boat, anchored in the Thames estuary
waiting for the tide to turn, with four other men: the Director of
Companies, who is their host, a lawyer, an accountant, and Marlow,
a seaman. After a s…

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Citation:
Childs, Peter. "Heart of Darkness".
The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 January 2002
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4874, accessed 31 March 2015.]

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4874Heart of Darkness3Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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